Run Committed

Conflicted

New York is still just under 3 weeks away. Before running Smuttynose, I had told myself that if I had the good fortune of qualifying for Boston, my approach to New York would be that of a fun run, a celebration, a victory lap. I was going to soak in every mile of the New York City Marathon experience, not caring what my time was.

That was my intent.

However, after watching the fantastic finish at the Chicago Marathon and tracking my friends at Chicago, Portland and Bay State, several of whom had BQ’s of their own, there’s been this voice; this voice that’s whispering in my ear.

It’s whispering, “3:15…3:15…3:15”.

I don’t even know if I can run a 3:15!

And furthermore, there’s no real reason for me to be attempting 3:15. By the time November 7th arrives, I will have already registered for Boston 2011 (registration opens this morning at 9:00AM), so it’s not like I’d improve my corral placement. On top of that, with only 5 weeks between Smuttynose and New York, no one is really expecting to see any kind of improvement, are they? Of course, the last time I ran 2 marathons so closely together, I did manage a 2 minute PR.

So I’ve been asking myself, could I take 4 minutes off in New York? Should I even try?

To make matters worse, my friend David (@DP_Turtle), who BQ’d at Chicago and finished Boston last year 11 seconds ahead of me, has thrown down a challenge. He will be running New York and is thinking maybe we should have a little side bet. Before you try stop me, it’s too late! We have agreed that the loser at New York is buying the winner a beer at Boston 2011. True, that’s not a whole lot on the line – it’s just a beer…and bragging rights!

Now, I did say early on, that I was planning on stopping to see everyone I know along the way and snapping a picture. Can I still do that and run harder than I did at Smuttynose? I don’t know. It’s doubtful.

So you see? I’m conflicted. I want to enjoy my victory lap. I want to hug every friend along the way (though after a few miles they may not want to hug me). But the competitive nature in me is whispering, “3:15…3:15…3:15”.

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15 Responses

not sure if there is a real conflict, you see I have read your previous posts where you size up the competition and in your head declare what place you are going to come in. So, I don’t see you taking it easy, especially if the challenge has been issued!
3:15, Never say never… “Anything is possible” Kevin Garnett.

I don’t know about you, but every time I run a race, I like to race. I haven’t yet run a marathon (NYC 2011!), but I imagine that racing one is exponentially more difficult than the distances I’ve done. Regardless, I think that if I personally tried to “take it easy” on a race with a huge entrance fee, massive crowds, big deal, tons of people, etc. that my competitive self would kick in soon enough and I’d find myself racing.

So yeah, I think you should try for 3:15. It may be true that there’s not a huge reason why you’d PR, but if you don’t try you’ll never know 🙂

(And if you don’t PR, then you can just tell people you ran a relaxed race :p)

I agree with Kevin but with a caveat from an injured runner. It takes seconds to mess up the whole season. I say treat it as a victory lap and go safely into your Boston training. Of course, if I wasn’t sitting here injured and bummed I would tell you to go for it. So how is that for conflict resolution?

I think you have “PR’d” in a very unique way by raising the amount of money you have for Autism Speaks (just for the record).

It strikes me that the question is not “easy” vs “3:15” but of your strategy. I think it would be hard to be making the various stops with people along the way if your strategy is to make a certain time. So I think the distinction may be between “I am not running for a certain time but I will run as fast as I can, given that I plan multiple stops along the way” and “I am going for a 3:15 with everything I’ve got.”

Great question in your blog; it’ll be interesting to see what others think!

This sounds like a real testosterone thng that I’m gonna stay out of – smile I know you are going to have a great time no matter what you decide and Central Park is magnificent in the fall! xoxo GracefulLady

I think you have to decide for yourself what is more important…hugging friends along the course or going out for a PR. It’s really an individual choice. I doubt anyone can make that decision for you. Perhaps you can go hard the first half, see where you’re at and then adjust to different strategy if you don’t feel race conditions are in your favor?

Hmmm, such a difficult decision. I don’t envy you. Either way, you’ll have a blast in NY! Can’t wait.

You are hardcore! I am taking the victory lap approach to NYCM, mostly because this will be my first time trying to race two marathons so close together. I have no idea what to expect, so I’m just going to see what feels right on November 7th and go with it. But if you’ve done it before, then I say go for it! It will be quite the experience regardless. See you out there!

If there is one thing that I’ve learned about myself it’s that whenever I say I’m going to run a race for fun it doesn’t happen. Within the week before the race my competitive side takes over, and I go for broke. It happened before Smuttynose, and I already feel it happening going into Manchester. I have no reason to “race” Manchester, and my initial plan was to run it for fun in Vibrams – I think that plan is going to change. Probably no way I can PR on the Manchester course, but I’m a racer at heart, and I’ll probably wind up leaving it all out there on the road. I sense you are similar in your mentality, so I say go for broke and shoot for the 3:15!

What a conflict! I am registered for NY and I decided there was no way I could run it safely without another injury so soon after recovering. From your writing, I think you should go and then decide how you will run once you are there. Good running and look forward to hearing your decision.

That is a conflict! This weekend I ran the Newport, RI half marathon with a friend. I had been training to go for a PR, but after hurting my foot, I tapered about 3 weeks early and ran my friend’s race rather than mine. I was her coach through the whole thing pushing, distracting, telling funny stories, even offering to be her Sherpa. It was the BEST feeling to be there for fun, taking in the ocean, and chatting up my friend.

Of any race to do it, NY would be the one where I would want to take in all the different sites, give back to other runners, coaching and talking to them along the way. You know what you can do. You did it. Now you can take the next goal or you can make a new goal to help others to achieve theirs.

I didn’t PR, but I am flying about as high or higher still today as if I did.

*Note, Monday morning, I signed up for the mainecoasthalf on Nov 7th to go for my PR. (See…conflict resolved and I can run in solidarity with NYM peeps.)